1. Field of the invention
The invention relates to agricultural equipment for dispensing of grain seeds and granular fertilizer. More particularly, the invention contemplates an automatic loading device including a receiving bin located on the side of a truck holding the seeds or fertilizer, in combination with a telescoping pipe to a feed tank located on a separate seed planter. The feed tank on the planter feeds a plurality of planter hoppers for automatic loading of the hoppers, the rate of flow into the hoppers being controllable by flow control gates on the feed lines from the tank to hoppers.
2. Disclosure Statement
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,273, issued Apr. 20, 1965, to Barber et al, a transport vehicle and unloading conveyor are disclosed where a downspout with a flexible tubular portion and three telescoping sections is slidable for shortening or lengthening of the spout and discharging the vehicle contents, such as seed grain. However, seeds, such as beans, cannot be moved in a smooth manner from the grain bed of the Barber et al device into the seed hopper, and a high degree of complexity and complication characterizes the compartmented grain bed construction of the Barber et al patent. A further disadvantage is that modification of a conventional truck bed necessarily must be undertaken to accommodate utilizing the Barber et al invention.
Hansen et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,543,704, patented Dec. 1, 1970, disclose a tractor-drawn agricultural planter having a plurality of commonly driven units including seed dispensing means where a central seed hopper feeds individual seed dispensing means. However, the Hansen et al construction requires the seed reservoir to be tractor drawn, rather than tractor mounted, with consequent space requirements and incompatibility with conventional planters which are primarily tractor mounted at the present time. Further, the chain driven mechanism taught by Hansen et al requires considerable expense for construction, maintenance, and the possibility of breakdown can result in loss of time and expense, unlike a simpler arrangement, such as a gravity flow mechanism. A machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,556,850, issued Oct. 13, 1925, to Kuhne, which utilizes a spoon-like device for retaining a seed and ejecting it through an aperture, and then functioning as a grain drill, rather than a planter.
Other patents relating to the field of the invention include the following:
______________________________________ 1,899,931 Benjamin et al March 7, 1933 2,296,014 Benzel, Sr. et al Sept. 15, 1942 2,410,996 Patterson Nov. 12, 1946 4,002,252 Beckman, Jr. Jan. 11, 1977 ______________________________________